NEW YORK, NY.- Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers will hold its inaugural Russian Works of Art auction on Thursday, May 25 at 10am in New York. The sale will showcase Imperial Russian and Soviet decorative arts, from Fabergé to porcelain, silver to icons. Sourced from American and European collections, many of the works have Russian Imperial provenances and are fresh to the market.
Highlights include a Gold and Guilloché Enamel Russian Imperial Presentation Snuff Box with the diamond cypher of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880), the wife of Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881). It was made in Hanau, Germany, by C.M. Weishaupt Söhne. Consigned by a New York Estate, the snuff box is appearing on the market for the first time in generations (est. $12,000-18,000). Also offered is an Important Gold Minute Repeating Chronograph Hunting Case Pocket Watch depicting Emperor Alexander III (1845-1894) and engraved with the facsimile signature of his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928). The watch commemorates a state visit to Helsinki in August 1895 (est. $25,000-35,000).
Featured among a diverse group of Fabergé is a Silver-Gilt and Guilloché Enamel Desk Clock by head workmaster Henrik Wigström, circa 1914. It was purchased by one of the firm’s most important clients in London, Mrs. W.B. Leeds (est. $55,000-65,000). Further highlights include a large Fabergé Silver Samovar by the workmaster Alexander Wäkeva (est. $40,000-60,000); a monumental Fabergé Silver and Cut Glass Center Bowl (est. $60,000-80,000); a rare Fabergé Silver Cigarette Case depicting Sadko, the principal character in a medieval Russian epic poem (est. $10,000-15,000); and an exquisite Fabergé Silver and Guilloché Enamel Miniature Tankard by the workmaster Anders Nevalainen (est. $35,000-45,000) from a Prominent Virginia Collection.
The porcelain section of the sale offers an extensive selection of nearly fifty figures and porcelain plates depicting various national groups inhabiting the Russian Empire and folk characters. They were made by the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory and prominent private factories, such as Gardner and Popov. Highlights include a Porcelain Figure of a Lapp Woman (Loparskaya Zhenshchina) from the Peoples of Russia series by the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory after the model by Pavel Kamenskii (est. $8,000-12,000) and a Porcelain Figure of Vodonoska by the Gardner Manufactory (est. $12,000-15,000).
Among bronzes by Lanceray, Grachev and Moritz-Wolf are two elegant society portraits by Prince Paul Troubetzkoy. Mother and Child (Princess Gagarina and Her Daughter) is a tender portrait of the artist’s cousin (est. $30,000-50,000), and The Younger Daughter of Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt is one of several portraits by the artist of members of the Vanderbilt family (est. $35,000-45,000).
The sale will also include a selection of Russian historical prints, maps and paintings by such artists as Konstantin Korovin, Ivan Choultse, David Burliuk and Dmitri Plavinsky.
Comprising approximately 200 lots, the Russian Works of Art auction will be offered as a special section of the sale of English & Continental Furniture & Decorative Arts. The public is invited to the exhibition on view from May 20 through 22. Doyle is located at 175 East 87th Street in New York.
